Seoul shares experienced a significant surge, climbing over 2 percent on Tuesday to close at a new record high above the 5,900-point threshold, fueled by substantial gains in technology stocks. Conversely, the Korean won weakened against the US dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) increased by 123.55 points, or 2.11 percent, reaching an all-time high closing value of 5,969.64.
The KOSPI’s bullish trend has continued in recent weeks, initially surpassing the 5,000-point mark on January 27, and subsequently crossing 5,500 on February 12. It exceeded 5,800 on Friday.
Trading volume was robust, with 1.58 billion shares exchanged, valued at 30.73 trillion won ($21.3 billion). Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones by 465 to 407.
Institutions were net buyers, acquiring 2.37 trillion won worth of stocks, which offset net sales of 199.16 billion won by foreign investors and 2.28 trillion won by retail investors.
This market rally occurred despite overnight losses on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 1.66 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined by 1.13 percent.
In Seoul, investors eagerly purchased major chip stocks in anticipation of an upcoming earnings report from US chipmaker Nvidia later in the week. Simultaneously, caution prevailed regarding potential new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump following the Supreme Court’s rejection of his initial sweeping duties, according to analysts.
President Trump signed an executive order on Friday authorizing new 10 percent global tariffs, which took effect on Tuesday. He has also suggested raising the rate to 15 percent, although no official order has been issued.
“Even if global tariffs are raised to 15 percent, there will be no significant impact on the local stock market because current US tariffs on Korean imports are already at 15 percent,” commented an analyst at IBK Securities Co.
Technology and automotive stocks spearheaded the gains.
Market leader Samsung Electronics increased by 3.63 percent to 200,000 won, while chip giant SK hynix soared by 5.68 percent to a record high of 1,005,000 won.
Leading automaker Hyundai Motor rose by 0.19 percent to 524,000 won, and prominent battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution gained 4.17 percent to 412,500 won.
Among the decliners, shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean decreased by 2.79 percent to 143,100 won, and Lotte Shopping declined by 1.67 percent to 111,700 won.
